Four new Trinamool MLAs to take oath on Tuesday: Bengal Assembly Speaker

Kolkata, July 22 (IANS) The oath ceremony of the four new Trinamool Congress legislators, namely Madhuparna Thakur, Dr Mukut Mani Adhikari, Krishna Kalyani and Supti Pandey, will be held on Tuesday, Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay has said here. 

The decision on this count was taken at the meeting of the business advisory committee of the state Assembly which was conducted on Monday within the Assembly premises.

Sources said that despite communiques being forwarded to the office of the Governor both from the Assembly as well as the state Parliamentary Affairs Department office requesting the Governor to either administer the oath or nominate anyone.

However, sources said that till Monday no positive response from the office of the Governor House has reached the Assembly in the matter.

In that case, the Speaker can himself administer the oath under Section 5 of Chapter 2 of the 'Rules of Business', which authorizes the Speaker to do so when the House is in session, as was done recently in the case of the new Trinamool Congress MLAs, namely Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Houssen Sarkar.

Legal experts say that there still is a constitutional clause regarding the participation of the newly elected MLAs in Assembly proceedings without the nod of the Governor of the state which involves a point of financial penalty for the MLAs concerned if they participate in the proceedings or even occupy the chair allotted with the approval from the Constitutional head of the state.

Article 193 of the Indian Constitution gives the power to the Governor to impose such a financial penalty.

“If a person sits or votes as a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of a State before he has complied with the requirements of Article 188, or when he knows that he is not qualified or that he is disqualified for membership thereof, or that he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of the State, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the State,” reads Article 193.